This handsome map of the Canadian Maritimes is based on Samuel de Champlain's great map of 1632, and augmented with place names from De Laet and Jansson. This is Blaeu's only map of Canada. It shows Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Labrador and the Davis and Hudson Straits as well as the southern tip of Greenland and a portion of northern Maine. The elaborate cartouches symbolize the importance of the Grand Banks fisheries, which are boldly engraved on the map. Only five editions of the Atlas Maior containing this map were published prior to the fire that destroyed the Blaeu printing house in 1672. Thus the map is now quite scarce. Published in the French text edition of the Atlas Maior.

See also lot 701 for John Goss' Blaeu's The Grand Atlas of the 17th Century World and lot 706 for Philip Burden's The Mapping of North America - A List of Printed Maps 1511-1700 that both describe this map.

References: Burden #371, Goss (Blaeu) p. 158; Kershaw #149; Van der Krogt (Vol. II) #9130:2.

Condition: B+

A dark impression with full contemporary color on a sheet with a large watermark of the god Atlas. There is light printer's ink residue, a professionally repaired centerfold separation at bottom, and minor toning along the centerfold.